Rockets facing uncertainty heading into free agency

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Before every NBA Finals game could begin, Rudy Tomjanovich had the last word, scolding “non-believers” with his iconic message about the perils of doubting the “Heart of a Champion.”

The video spoke to the Rockets’ place in NBA history, but amid the grainy footage of Finals past, it offered a reminder that it has been nearly two decades since those champions were assembled.

As the Rockets begin another offseason further removed from their glory days, facing familiar uncertainty in the shadow of the goal bequeathed to them by the championship teams that began Leslie Alexander’s tenure as Rockets owner, rarely have they faced a more crucial period.

With a combination of disappointment from three consecutive seasons as the last team to fail to make the playoffs and the opportunity that comes with a remodeled, deal-ready roster, the stretch from Thursday’s draft to February’s trade deadline could define the Rockets for years.

The Rockets do not agree that the coming months are unusually crucial, arguing that Alexander’s demands that only championship contention will do creates a constant sense of urgency.

But after years spent trying to build around Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, they head to their first offseason without the contractual and salary-cap constraints left by the seasons with those signature stars.

“To me, we’re not on any timetable to getting back to being a championship contender,” general manager Daryl Morey said. “It often takes a much longer time than anybody wants to talk about.

Moving past Yao

“We’re trying to find a way that shortens that timetable to do it as quickly as possible in a smart way. We’re using free agency and trades as tools. When you lose two franchise players – we’re really on year two. Last season was the first year we were not betting on Yao being a franchise player.”

The Rockets have made no secret of their desire to land Yao’s successor as the team’s foundation and thought they had deals in place to acquire Pau Gasol and sign Nene as a free agent to serve that role. A season after NBA commissioner David Stern blocked that deal, and months after the trade-deadline talks for Dwight Howard ended, the search continues, but with tools and flexibility to make that sort of deal possible.

“That’s what you want,” Morey said. “You want to have good options.”

They have a large number of young veterans, many in their desirable rookie-scale contracts, cap space and two picks (14 and 16) in the middle of the first round Thursday. Morey will look to change his position in the draft, by moving up or by working to acquire a future pick rather than add two more rookies to the three players (Marcus Morris, Donatas Motiejunas and Chandler Parsons) drafted last season.

After the Rockets gave up a future first-round pick last season to move up just three spots for Motiejunas, Morey said a significant jump from the 14th pick is preferable.

Few free agents

Barring a stunning turn of events to move into the upper echelon of the first round, free agency and trades offer the greater potential to break the three-year stretch of treading water. But free agency offers limited opportunities.

Only Deron Williams can be considered a max free agent, and he is likely to seek a chance to join an established star.

The Rockets are not likely to pursue an addition who offers a limited improvement while eating into the cap room they hope can facilitate a trade.

“For sure we’d make that kind of move as long as it is a move that fits in the context of helping us win and keeps our chances of getting a franchise player,” Morey said. “The latter we’ll never compromise. We’re never going to reduce our chances to keep ourselves in play for a franchise player.”

He said they also will not make an attention-getting move to improve the image of a team considered without stars.

Morey said he considers Rockets fans on board with the rebuilding and that Alexander’s interest is only in building a contender. Rockets CEO Tad Brown said he has heard Alexander specifically address that priority.

“Every decision that drives Leslie’s direction for the organization is how are we going to get better, how are we going to become a championship contender,” Brown said. “That direction comes directly from Leslie. The business side … is designed to support all of the resources possible to put the best team possible on the court.

“I don’t want to say there is a greater sense of urgency. There is always a sense of urgency. That’s cultural. I think there is a sense of magnified opportunity. We have a good young base of guys to build on. We definitely have that feeling that we need to get back to that championship-contending status. It’s going to continue to drive us. Leslie continues to instill that in everybody.”

Brown said last season’s dip in attendance does not indicate a growing impatience, arguing it was the result of a lockout-season schedule that removed many of the top teams from the Rockets’ home schedule, eliminating not only those sellouts but their potential to drive partial season-ticket plans.

Crucial period

Still, as the draft marks the beginning of another period of rebuilding, the team is at a crossroads, as crucial as when it was rebuilt before and after Moses Malone took the team to the 1981 Finals; when the twin towers team reached the 1986 Finals then imploded with substance-abuse suspensions; and when the championship teams were built around Hakeem Olajuwon.

Dawson’s take

“You can kind of tell sometimes when you are in those periods of time,” former general manager Carroll Dawson said. “You could see it in the early ’90s when we put all those shooters around Dream. We thought we got lucky when we got Steve Francis and then Tracy (McGrady) and very lucky when we got Yao. That didn’t happen when the injuries hit us. Now might be one of those times again, but I know we do have the right people. We will get out of it.”

Morey would not predict a timetable, or say the game-changing move is certain in the coming months. But the chances are better. And after three seasons in neutral, there is a sense they have come to one of those times that changes a franchise’s direction.

“My optimism doesn’t matter,” Morey said. “We have a plan. We believe in the plan. We’re going to execute it. We believe that at some point we’re going to turn the corner.”